Pages tagged "diana denza"

"You know, there are men at the bar down the street," she said over the dull hum of music and drunken Friday night chatter at a local lesbian bar. After responding politely that despite my long hair, red lipstick, and floral skirt, I was indeed looking for women, she repeated "But there are men there. Nice men. Do you like men?"

I wish I could say this was the only time that my identity has been called into question on the basis of my choice of dress. But in fact, this happens to me more often than not. From men in muscle tees who feel that it is their godly duty to ask me out while I'm on a date with a woman to the patrons who are genuinely confused by my presence at a lesbian bar, it's hard to navigate a world where feminine defaults you as straight. More insidiously, feminine women tend to be mistrusted, as if our flowing skirts and flushed cheeks signal our submission to the patriarchal world.